Retiring like ‘The Golden Girls’

By Amy Hoak

One out of every three baby boomers is single, and most of those singles are women. And for reasons that are financial or social in nature, a number of them are pursuing shared housing options. That’s right: They’re moving in together, Golden Girl-style.

Touchstone Television/Everett Collection

Thank you for being a friend (and lowering my bills).

That’s according to a recent story by Mary Beth Franklin in Investment News. (Reading the online version requires free registration.) The article, citing U.S. government statistics, says that more than 1 million single women age 45 or older live with a roommate who isn’t a relative. The practice can help these women trim housing costs and reduce the need for additional income in retirement.

The piece features examples of real-life women following in the footsteps of Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia. And such “co-housing” is mostly a female thing. Men tend to consider moving in together “weird,” opined Ginita Wall, a fee-only financial adviser who has been living with a female roommate for a couple of years. “Besides, most men…in their 60s or older are married—or dead,” Wall told Franklin.

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About Encore

Encore looks at the changing nature of retirement, from new rules and guidelines for financial security to the shifting identities, needs and priorities of people saving for and living in retirement. Our lead blogger is editor Matthew Heimer, and frequent contributors include editor Amy Hoak, writer Catey Hill, and MarketWatch columnists Elizabeth O’Brien, Robert Powell and Andrea Coombes. Encore also features regular commentary from The Wall Street Journal retirement columnists Glenn Ruffenach and Anne Tergesen and the Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Alicia H. Munnell.